adventures at home and beyond...

the husband and i had an excellent time in santa barbara on our pseudo-camping trip (i know, i know - i will eventually get to reviewing it!) - and we managed to squeeze in some visits to a few wineries while we were there. we wished we had done a few things differently with regards to the tastings, however. first of all, we would not go on a weekend again - the tasting rooms were very crowded with just enough obnoxious people that put a bit of a damper on the relaxing, lovely experience. secondly, we wished we had someone to escort us, because we couldn't visit as many as we would have liked since we didn't want to drink while intoxicated. we saw some people being driven around by limo - and it just felt a little trashy to me, i have to say. there's a relaxed elegance to most of the vineyards, but the experience shouldn't be about trying to impress anyone - the whole scene is far more down to earth than that. when we got back, i was telling a friend of mine (the same gal who recommended some excellent places to go) about our experience, and she wholeheartedly recommended a tour company called cloud climber that offers jeep tours around the santa barbara/santa ynez wine country. she said that her guide was super knowledgable, and led them to some really great places. for $100, they will guide you around the beautiful countryside to four different wineries, with a stop to pick up some great sandwiches for lunch somewhere in the middle. the $100 also covers all the tasting fees. that sounds worth it to me - we will definitely try it next time.

so, i am heading to santa barbara for a long weekend! hooray! we are fancy-camping at el capitan canyon, so i will be sure to post a review when i return. you might recall that i am a bit of an indoor girl, so in case we need a diversion from all the wilderness stuff, i asked a friend who knows about wine to offer up her recommendations for some vineyards to visit. she notes that there are so many more to choose from, but that these are her favorites on both counts of wine and atmosphere. here we come, sideways style! (minus miles' depression, loneliness,and anxiety, i hope!)

sunstone - open daily 10am - 4pm, $7 tasting fee (125 refugio road, santa ynez +805.688.9463) directions? coming from the south, take highway 101 north. exit highway 246 buellton, and turn right. follow highway 246 all the way through solvang and into santa ynez. turn right on refugio road. sunstone is located down by the santa ynez river, just before, on the right.

sanford - open daily 11am - 5pm, $5 tasting fee (7250 santa rosa road, buellton +805.688.3300) directions? sanford winery is located just outside of buellton, five miles west of highway
101 on santa rosa road. it is a one-hour drive north of santa barbara,
150 miles north of los angeles and 300 miles south of san francisco. driving from santa barbara,
take the santa rosa road off ramp (it is before the main exit to buellton and solvang). at the stop sign, turn left over the freeway to
another stop sign, and left again, then you will be on santa rosa road. proceed west 4.8 miles to 7250 santa rosa road. the entrance way is on
the left and a small sign says "sanford winery tasting room" is at the
entrance. proceed up the gravel drive through the vineyards, to the
left across a creek built of stone, to the tasting room and office.

blackjack - open thursday through monday 11am to 5pm. (2205 alamo pintado road, solvang +805.686.9922 ) directions? from the intersection of highway 101 and 246 in buellton, go east toward solvang. proceed through solvang to the
stoplight intersection of 246 and alamo pintado road. go left (north) proceed four miles and blackjack ranch winery will be on your left at 2205 alamo pintado road.

melville - open 11am to 4pm daily. (5185 east highway 246, lompoc +805.735.7030) directions? from the 101, exit for highway 246 towards lompoc/solvang. turn left at highway 246, and drive approximately 9 miles until you see melville.

the hitching post - bar opens at 4pm, dinner available from 5pm to 930pm. (406 east highway 246, buellton +805.688.0676) directions? take highway
101 to the lompoc/solvang exit. travel east
towards solvang
for 1 1/2 miles. the hitching post is on the right side of highway 246.

kalyra - open m-f 11am to 4:45 pm, saturday and sunday 10am to 4:45pm. (343 north refugio rd. santa ynez +805.693.8864) directions? from highway 101, exit highway 246 buellton, and turn right. follow highway 246 all the
way through solvang and into santa ynez. turn right on refugio road.

it is duly noted that there is a tasting room right next door to the santa ynez inn that has great wines from santa barbara wineries that don't have tasting rooms... also noted is the not-my-style decor of the santa ynez inn.

this article from santabarbaraca.com is really informative... it gives a full rundown of the wine regions in the santa barbara area, and mentions wineries to visit and places to stay.

also check out the website for the santa barbara vintner's association for events and tastings... they have some printable maps of the area
that are really useful - all the vineyards are marked with a picture of
their respective labels, in case you drink enough to recognize by label
(i wish i did!)

i love a good farmer's market, and santa barbara plays host to my favorite ever, downtown every saturday from 8:30 to 12:30, on the corner of santa barbara and cota streets.

and if you want to pretend you are not only camping, but also in provence (yay!), you could go to clairmont farms, a lovely, family-owned lavender farm. i may have to save that for my next trip - don't want to mix my metaphors, shall we say.

wow. after a really rough week at work, i had an idea to have a bit of a local escape from all the stress. i was hoping to lie about in a fluffy hotel bed, soak in a fabulous hotel bathtub, and hibernate all weekend in an attempt to recover! unfortunately, i was foiled by president's day weekend. everyone was booked, or only had their most expensive rooms available. we went out for an amazing dinner instead, and i am still glowing from our meal at jar, 12 hours later. but here are some of the options, next time the urge should strike for a much-needed getaway...

i'm not the outdoorsy type, you know. but since moving back to the west coast from new york city, i have begun to appreciate the nature a bit more. believe it or not, i have even been hiking recently in the LA area, at will rogers state park - excellent views of the ocean and los angeles from the top of the trail, and just a short drive from my neighborhood. so, continuing in this vein, i have been considering camping. how to ease into it, though? because it's not like the husband knows more about the great outdoors than i do, let me tell you! i found this place just outside of santa barbara that i think may be the ticket - the perfect place for us to feign being outdoorsy people while we muster up the courage to really rough it in big sur or yosemite someday. el capitan canyon has lovely little cabins with dreamy, fluffy beds inside and firepits to make s'mores at and wilderness to explore. i love the safari tents, too - and they are less expensive at $115 -$135 per night, depending on the season. oh, and bathrooms too. we will go someday - i'll be sure to tell you how we manage!